LOS ANGELES – Gilberto “Zurdo” Ramirez and Chris “The Gentleman” Billam-Smith had a cordial introductory press conference on Wednesday at The Mayan to announce their cruiserweight title unification clash.
Although friendly and pleasant, Ramirez (46-1, 30 KOs) and Billam-Smith (20-1, 13 KOs) both boasted big promises as they prepared to headline the Golden Boy Promotions “Latino Night” event on November 16 in Saudi Arabia.
“This is my division. I don’t think he has any advantages over me. I’m the best cruiserweight,” said Ramirez, the WBA titleholder. “I’m really excited about this opportunity. I’ll become the first Mexican unified cruiserweight champion. It’s exciting, because my dream will come true. I’ve been putting in a lot of hard work with my training.”
Ramirez, a former 168-pound titleholder from 2016 to 2018, has bounced back admirably since the last time he fought in the Middle East, suffering the first loss of his career to light heavyweight champion Dmitry Bivol in 2022.
Last October, Ramirez moved up to cruiserweight and scored a unanimous decision win against Joe Smith Jr. In March, Ramirez beat Arsen Goulamirian unanimously to win the WBA cruiserweight title.
Before the fight, Billam-Smith, the WBO crownholder, messaged Ramirez encouraging him to beat Goulamirian to stage the more marketable matchup.
“I wished him good luck for the Goulamirian fight. I rooted for him that night. It was a great performance from Zurdo,” said Billam-Smith. “I’m a different fighter and am better than Goulamirian in many areas. My speed and intensity at this weight causes a lot of cruiserweights a lot of problems. I’ll get to prove it again versus Ramirez.
“Stylistically, it makes for a fantastic fight. We might respect each other now but on fight night it will be a fight you don’t want to miss. That kind of fight really excites me.”
The career-long cruiserweight Billam-Smith, 34, will be fighting outside UK soil for the first time in his seven-year campaign. Billam-Smith became a first-time world titleholder last year by beating reigning champion Lawrence Okolie via unanimous division. In December, he successfully defended the title against Mateusz Masternak and avenged a 2019 split decision loss to Richard Riakporhe in June.
“This title unification opportunity for me is huge,” said Billam-Smith. “I’ve been written off many times before. Last time out [against Riakporhe], I was going into his backyard and it was all about him. It was supposed to be his night and I spoiled the party. Unfortunately for the Latinos on November 16, I’ll be doing exactly the same again. All respect.”
Manouk Akopyan is a sports journalist, writer and broadcast reporter whose work has appeared on ESPN, Fox Sports, USA Today, The Guardian, Newsweek, Men’s Health, NFL.com, Los Angeles Times, Philadelphia Inquirer, Ring Magazine and more. He has been writing for BoxingScene since 2018. Manouk is a member of the Boxing Writers Association of America and the MMA Journalists Association. He can be reached on X (formerly Twitter), Instagram, LinkedIn and YouTube, through email at manouk[dot]akopyan[at]gmail.com or via www.ManoukAkopyan.com.
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